High-Fat Dairy Foods May Cut Type 2 Diabetes Risk

(HealthDay News) — Sources of dietary fat may influence risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, held from September 15–19 in Vienna.

Ulrika Ericson, PhD, of the Lund University Diabetes Center in Malmö, Sweden, and colleagues analyzed data for 26,930 individuals (60% female), aged 45–74 years, over 14 years of follow-up, to assess the association between intake of dietary fat and incident type 2 diabetes.

"The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products, but not of low-fat dairy products, indicate that dairy fat, at least partly, explains observed protective associations between dairy intake and type 2 diabetes," Ericson said in a statement. "Our findings suggest, that in contrast to animal fats in general, fats specific to dairy products may have a role in prevention of type 2 diabetes."